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An experiment observing the "mental map" of a rat's brain has led researchers to conclude that the creatures are capable of creating a sense of place. The study, published in the journal Science, found that rats' brains could form the complicated neural network necessary, using a variety of cell types, to navigate through mazes and other new spaces.

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An implant placed in the brains of rats allows them to sense infrared light, according to findings presented at the Society for Neuroscience annual meeting. Sensors were placed in the rats' visual cortexes, spaced out evenly to allow for infrared perception of 360 degrees.

Neural stem cells have been magnetically extracted from a rat's brain without harming the rodent, offering hope that the procedure can be used to harvest stem cells from humans. Edman Tsang of the University of Oxford developed a technique in which magnetic nanoparticles coated with antibodies that cling to neural stem cells are injected into the lateral ventricles of the rats' brains. After the nanoparticles attach themselves to the stem cells, a magnetic field around the rats' heads pulls the cells together so they can be extracted with a syringe.

Scientists say they have spotted the farthest-known supernova to date through the Hubble Space Telescope. Supernova UDS10Wil, also known as SN Wilson, is a Type Ia star explosion, which researchers say help them explain how the universe has grown over time. The light from SN Wilson took more than 10 billion years to reach Earth.

Earth's earliest creatures may have drawn their energy stores from meteorites that crashed onto the planet, researchers say. In particular, scientists say a mineral called pyrophosphite may have been the earliest energy store, formed when the space rocks landed on Earth.

A record 241 manatees were killed this year by the toxic algae bloom Red Tide, compared with the last peak of 151 in 1996. More than 460 manatees have died this year from various causes, and the number is expected to rise as the Red Tide's toxins settle into sea grass, the manatee's food source, causing residual related deaths.